Trolley and trolley-support.



C. E. EVELBTH.

TBOLLEY AND TBOLLEY SUPPORT.

APPLIOATION FILED we. 21, 1900.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

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CDLUMDIIA PLANOGIIAX'II (0.. WASHINGTON. D. 1.2

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E.

EVEIJETH, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRICCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TROLLEY AND TROLLEY-SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 21, 1908.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Serial No. 449,622.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. EVELETH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys andTrolley-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric railways, and especially to mechanismfor supporting a trolley collector and keeping it in contact with anoverhead conductor.

The ordinary iron trolley pole is a rigid, heavy affair which hasconsiderable inertia, so that it does not move quickly to accommodateitself to changes in the level of the overhead conductor. On high speedroads this causes the trolley wheel to separate from the conductor atthe points where the conductor is suspended and even with the catenarysuspension there are more or less troubles; of this kind. An idealconstruction would be a light whip-like trolley pole which would nothave a very heavy pressure against the trolley wire, but would be veryactive and able to follow instantly any undulation in the wire. Such adevice is not practicable for several reasons, especially because itcould not successfully follow the wire at points where said wire iselevated considerably above normal in order to cross roads, bridges,etc.

My invention aims to meet these difliculties by providing a rigidcarrier movably mounted on the trolley stand and carrying at its upperend a light collector arm such as a trolley pole or bow urged by aspring against the overhead conductor. This pole or bow controls a valvewhich admits fluid pressure to a cylinder containing a piston which isconnected with the carrier and operates to raise or lower the same,depending on the position of the valve. By giving said valve suflicientlap, the pole or bow can swing through a predetermined arc of movementbefore it opens the ports which admit the fluid pressure to thecylinder. This construction enables the normal swing of the light poleor bow to follow closely the ordinary undulations of the trolley wire,while any great change in level will cause an elevation or depression ofthe carrier to carry the trolley pole or bow to said higher or lowerposition.

The accompanying drawing is a somewhat diagrammatic representation ofone embodiment of my invention, showing a side elevation, partly insection, of a trolley support and the operating mechanism.

The trolley illustrated is designed for high speed high tension roads,and the base 1 is therefore supported on insulators 2 on the car-top 3.The carrier 4: is represented as a rigid boom, whose heel is hinged on apin 5 extending transversely between a pair of heavy lugs 6 rising fromsaid base. An arm 7 extends up from said boom, and a piston rod 8 ispivoted to said arm, the piston 9 which it carries being contained in acylinder 10 mounted on trunnions between standards 11 rising from thebase 1, so that said cylinder can rock as the piston travels back andforth, swinging the boom down and up.

The piston is actuated by fluid pressure, preferably an inelastic fluidsuch as water. The valve controlling the water is operatively connectedto a crank 12 attached to the collector arm 13, which is a short lightstructure pivoted to the upper end of the boom. A crank 14 opposite thecrank 12 is attached to one end of a tension spring 15, whose lower endis fastened to the boom or to a stud 16 projecting therefrom. Saidspring urges the collector up against the trolley Wire 17.

The valve rod 18 is pivotally attached to the crank 12, and runs down tothe valve 19 which is located in a valve chest 20, preferably inclosedin the boom itself, which for this purpose may be made tubular. Thevalve is preferably of the double piston type, each piston 21 22controlling a port 23 24 which respectively connect by flexible tubes 2525 with the front and back ends of the cylinder. The pistons havesuflicient overlap to permit them to be moved more or less either wayfrom a central position before opening the ports. Tater under pressureis led through a flexible pipe 26 to the chamber between the pistons. Anescape pipe 27 leads from one end of the valve chest, the spaces at theends of said chest being in constant communication through a passage 28in the wall of the chest. The water is drawn from a tank 29 by asuitably-driven circulating pump 30 and forced through the pipe 26,while it returns to said tank through the pipe 27, so that there is noloss in the system.

The operation is as follows: The light collector arm or pole 13 has solittle weight and inertia that it readily follows the undulations of thetrolley wire 17 even at high speed. Meanwhile the heavy boom 4: remainsmotionless, being held locked in position by the water on each side ofthe piston 9. The lap of the pistons 21 22 is sufficient to permit areasonable play of the bow up and down without opening either of theports 23 24. But when the trolley wire as sumes a higher level thannormal, as for instance at a road crossing or a bridge, the crank 12draws the valve up far enough to admit the water pressure, entering bythe supply pipe 26 between the pistons, to the port 24 and the pipe 25'and thence to the back end of the cylinder 10. At the same time thefront end of'the cylinder is placed in communication with the escapepipe 27 through the pipe 25, the port 23, and the space below the valve.The water pressure moves the piston 9 toward the front end of thecylinder, pulling up the boom and lifting the bow to the higher level onwhich it must work. On reaching that level, the valve is again closed,by the return of the collector arm to its normal working position, andthe boom remains locked in its elevated position. A return of thetrolley wire to or below its normal level will move the valve downwardand admit pressure tothe front end of the cylinder to drop the boomaccordingly.

While I have shown the part which carries the collector arm as. a hingedboom, yet it is evident that the carrier may be differently mounted toraise and lower the collector arm at abnormal levels in the trolleywire, without departing-from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. A trolley comprising a carrier, a collector arm pivotally mounted onthe outer end thereof, and means cont-rolled by the up and down angularmovement of the collector arm to correspondingly raise or lower saidcarrier.

2. A trolley comprising a pivoted carrier,

a collector arm pivotally mounted on the outer end thereof, and meansfor automatically raising and rigidly maintaining said carrier when thecollector arm moves upwardly through a predetermined angle.

3. A trolley comprising a carrier, a col lector arm pivotally mounted onthe outer end thereof, and means controlled by the up and down angularmovement of the collectorarm to correspondingly move said carrier andrigidly maintain it in adjusted position.

4. A trolley comprising a pivoted carrier, a collector arm pivotallymounted on the outer end thereof, means controlled by extreme up or downmovement of said collector arm to move and rigidly maintain said carrierin a corresponding higher or lower position.

5. A trolley comprising a pivoted carrier, a collector arm pivot-allymounted on the outer end thereof, and fluid pressure means for raisingand lowering said carrier actuated by extreme movement of the collectorarm in the same direction.

6. In a trolley and trolley support, the combination with a boom, of acollector arm pivoted to the outer end thereof, a cylinder and piston inoperative engagement with said boom, a supply of inelastic fluid underpressure, and a valve controlled by the up and down movement of saidcollector arm and acting to admit said fluid to said cylin-,

inder, said valve being carried on the boom and connected with saidcollector arm whereby extreme up or down movement of the arm effects acorresponding up or down movement of the boom.

8. A trolley and trolley support, comprising a hinged boom, a collectorarm pivoted to the upper end thereof and having two cranks, a springattached to one crank for urging said collector arm upward, a rodattached to the other crank, a valve on said rod, a source of fluidsupply controlled by said valve, and means operated thereby for movingsaid boom, said valve having a certain amount of lap to give thecollector arm a certain range of movement without causing any movementof said boom.

9. A trolley and trolley support, compris- I CHARLES E. EVELETH.

lVitnesses BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

